Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUnifeed
PAKISTAN / FLOODS DISPLACED
STORY: PAKISTAN / FLOODS DISPLACED
TRT: 2.51
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: PASHTO / NATS
DATELINE: 14 JULY 2011, MIANDAM, PAKISTAN
1. Various shots, Swat valley near village of Gishar
2. Various shots, floods in Swat valley
3. Wide shot, Abdul Majeed, UNHCR beneficiary arriving to his house
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdul Majeed, villager:
“We had electricity but the floods cut off electric power which deprived our children of studies, we plunged into darkness, tailors became jobless, we were facing immense problems due to power as we had no power facility and we were living in dark.”
5. Various shots, hydro station and operator
6. SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Mohammed Sajjad, Sarhad Rural Support Programme:
“Community organization is managing the electricity supply and takes bills from the people. They have hired an operator who looks after the generator and fixes the problem if any fault occurs. Out of the collective amount, the community organization pays salary of the operator.”
7. Wide shot, Abdul Majeed, UNHCR beneficiary climbing to his house
8. SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Abdul Majeed, villager:
“For three to four months, until SRSP and UNHCR came here and provided us the light. We got electricity because of them, now our children can study, we can press our cloths and some times we can turn on even the TV."
9. Various shots, power lines
10. Various shots, valley as seen from Majeed house in village of Gishar
This is the Swat valley in north-west Pakistan. Once a tourist destination, in 2009 it became the scene of a violent insurgency.
Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced until the government regained control.
Last summer, it was struck again this time it was floods the worst in Pakistan’s history. They simply tore through the Swat valley.
Homes were destroyed. Roads and bridges washed away.
The floods also wiped out services power pylons were ripped out leaving the population in darkness
Adbul Majeed lives here high on a hilltop the floods affected his whole family.
SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Abdul Majeed, villager:
“We had electricity but the floods cut off electric power which deprived our children of studies, we plunged into darkness, tailors became jobless, we were facing immense problems due to power as we had no power facility and we were living in dark.”
Working with SRSP a local organization, the United Nations (UN) refugee agency (UNHCR) helped construct a dozen, small hydro-electric stations like this one.
This plant, in the town of Miandam supplies electricity to around 200 families living in remote villages. Now there is light again.
SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Mohammed Sajjad, Sarhad Rural Support Program:
“Community organization is managing the electricity supply and takes bills from the people. They have hired an operator who looks after the generator and fixes the problem if any fault occurs. Out of the collective amount, the community organization pays the salary of the operator.”
The efforts of the aid agencies has paid off for villagers like Abdul.
SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Abdul Majeed, villager:
“For three to four months, until SRSP and UNHCR came here and provided us with one or two generators. We have electricity because of them, now our children can study. We can iron our cloths and some times we can turn on even the TV."
The hydro project in Miandam is one of twelve in the region with it power has been restored to nearly two thousand homes.
And so one year on, the rebuilding efforts of UNHCR and its local partners continue to help the millions whose lives were devastated by the floods of the century.
Download
There is no media available to download.
